Julie Salt
Dominic Wong is the author of two novels. He’s also Director of The Bournemouth Writing Festival.He talks to The Bournemouth Journal’s Substack Newsletter Editor, Julie Salt, about this year’s event.
Q: The festival is now in its third year. Can you tell me, Dominic, what are its main aims?
A: The ethos of the festival is to inspire all writers to write, regardless of your age, background or ability. Whether you are just starting out, midway through or close to getting your work out there, then the festival will help you to improve and progress your writing journey. Over the three-day festival, there are 100 free and ticketed events and activities happening in the Town Centre. Throughout the year, we put on events to get you writing, as well as organising networking and writing groups.
Q: Who is the festival for?
A: If you have a story inside of you, we want to help you get it out onto the page. Loads of people come along who haven’t written a word all the way through to people who have had several books published! We have a writing competition for schools and home-educated children (this year, together with the RNLI and Hengistbury Head Writing Group) and children’s activities to encourage kids to write, as well as free workshops for areas of our community – such as the homeless or in financial difficulties, adults with additional needs, international students and children in care.
Q: Writing is so often a solitary activity; how does the festival help writers?
A: Our networking events are well attended, and we put these in-person events on every six weeks or so. We also organise free, volunteer-led writing groups in BCP libraries for people to have peer-to-peer advice and guidance. Our private Facebook group has over 1k writers in it where you can ask a question or post something interesting about writing. I like to think our community are your cheerleaders whilst you are sat behind a laptop.
Q: It takes place in Bournemouth, but where exactly?
A: We try to find locations across Bournemouth for people to discover. Over the three-day festival, the main hub is at the Pavilion Dance where the majority of talks and workshops take place. Patch (on the 1st floor of Bobbys) is where our children’s activities will take place on the Saturday and an Author Marketplace, plus talks, on the Sunday. The Russell Cotes Museum will be our chillout area with optional gentle writing exercises and the Bandstand in the Lower Gardens is where our free Poetry Hub will be. We also want people to go our fantastic local cafes and restaurants, so we are holding ‘genre breakfasts’, mealtime meetups and our Friday Night Social in different venues in the town centre.
Q: How many people are you expecting to come? And from how far afield?
A: The past two years we’ve had nearly 1000 people attend. 30% of attendees live outside of Dorset and we’ve had people fly in from Albania, Madrid and Singapore specifically for the festival! So, it really is a driver for tourism and our local economy.
Q: What are some of the main events that attendees can expect to be excited about this year?
A: I am most excited by Bourn Jammy, which is a live music improvisation event at the Pavilion Dance on Saturday Night. MC Gramski is extraordinary in how fast his brain works! He takes prompts from the audience and then crafts an energetic freestyle rap with the band behind him, moulding their notes to his words. This year, the winners of the Bournemouth Writing Prize will be performing their winning entries to the music the band conjures up. It really is awe-inspiring.
We also have literary agents coming down from London so attendees can book in a slot to get feedback on their manuscript and maybe even get a publishing contract! Writing on the Beach is always popular, with Richard & Judy winner Chris Aziz putting words on giant pillowcases to put on her gigantic washing line, for the words to flow in the sea breeze.
Q: What eminent speakers have you attracted?
A: This year, multi-million-selling author Rachel McLean will be doing a talk, using her experience from her Dorset Crime Series. We attract credible writers who have been there and done it and are willing to impart their learnings, advice and guidance to help other writers.
Q: You also partner with Bournemouth University for the Bournemouth Writing Prize? Can you tell me about the festival’s involvement?
A: This year, we joined forces to create a bigger and better writing competition that received entries from across the world. With the university’s established prize and MA course, together with a buzzing literary celebration attracting writers across the country, it starts to establish Bournemouth as the place to be. Not just for writers but also culturally and a happening place for students and people to come, visit and live.
Q: There’s also a prize for children?
A: Every year, we inspire children to write with a focused writing competition for schools and home-educated children living in Dorset. In the first year, we partnered with AFC Bournemouth; the second year, Dorset Goes Wild, and this year with the RNLI and Hengistbury Head Writers Group. We provide educators with free resources, such as videos, classroom PowerPoint and information sheets so they can guide the children to create awesome adventures. And of course, there are great prizes too! On the Saturday of the festival, the first floor of Patch will be only for children – we have workshops and drop-in sessions for children to get writing.
Q: Some people might be interested in becoming sponsors of the festival or parts of it? How does that work?
A: We are a small community arts company, so revenue is from ticket sales, funding and sponsors. So, it’s always nerve-wracking to see if we can afford to put the event on. Sponsors can get involved in a number of ways – sponsoring the whole thing, individual events (such as sponsoring the free poetry Hub or the networking events) or taking an advert in the festival programme. We are flexible to meet the needs of sponsors.
Q: How can we get tickets?
A: All tickets are available through our website, with the majority booked via our ticketing partner Pavilion Dance. Some events are already sold out, so be quick!
Q: Are there any special offers available we should know about?
A: Some events are on a Pay What You Can basis, so check the individual events to see what is still available.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about The Bournemouth Writing Festival?
A: The festival is run predominantly by volunteers. So, if you are interested to help out, please do get in touch. We always need spare hands on-deck! Otherwise, we rely on goodwill and the community to make the festival happen. Even if you can’t come, or aren’t interested in writing, a share or comment always helps to spread the word to more people.
Q: You’re running another writing festival in Bournemouth in the autumn too, I understand? Can you tell me about that?
A: The Romance Writing Festival is a one-day event specifically focusing on the romance genre. The Romance Writing Festival takes place on Saturday 18th October at the Royal Bath Hotel in Bournemouth. One day tickets are available for that. Also, watch out for a couple of other things that are happening this year – check the website or our socials for announcements!
Q. Last but not least, I hear congratulations are in order for your part locally in The Festival. You won an award recently?
A: Yes, the festival won the gold award for Tourism Event / Festival of the Year at the Dorset Tourism Awards! So chuffed to win that, especially so early on in our journey.
Thank you so much, Dominic. All the very best for this year’s festival. We look forward to seeing you there!
This month in The Bournemouth Journal’s Substack Newsletter we feature Dominic and The Bournemouth Writing Festival. You can find out more here: https://thebournemouthjournal.substack.com
